Anyone who has ever handled parcels, packages, or cartons of a variety of materials, for example cardboard or some other paper or fibrous shipping material, knows how awkward lifting and carrying such cartons can be. In particular, when one attempts to carry a carton and try to do anything else by freeing up a hand, one is at great risk of dropping the carton. In addition, the amount of bending or body English normally required in handling cartons of an awkward size subjects one to the danger of back, neck or shoulder injury.
A prime example of the phenomenon described above is demonstrated by a postal carrier, leaving his or her truck with one or more packages and who must get through a door. To accomplish this basic task, the carrier may do the following or some variation: lean the package against the wall next to the door, either balancing the package on a knee, or seizing it with the weight of his or her body, holding the package against the wall; with the package held temporarily in this fashion, the carrier opens the door with his or her free hand; once the door is open, the carrier quickly re-grabs the package and juts into the open space, getting hit in the back by the closing door. The preceding scenario is only one of a variety of machinations performed by carriers of cartons and packages. Pitfalls of such activities include the dropping of the carton, damaging the packed article or materials, getting hit hard in the back by an automatically closing door, dropping a heavy carton onto oneself, and the like.
What is needed then, is an aid for postal workers, for example, allowing an easier method of carrying boxes or cartons.
Another example which illustrates common problems among materialmen is the movement of boxes or cubes of material from conveyor belts. Standard cubic materials, such as cork, styrofoam, or boxes and cartons require the use of two hands, limiting the ability of workers to perform more than just the single function of moving or transferring the object.
Often, the size or girth of an object or carton is such that while liftable in terms of weight, it takes two persons to manage the piece. This requires both persons to use each of their hands to lift or transport the piece. If a device existed which could allow the manipulation of such pieces such as oversized cartons, then the labor requirement for some handling tasks would be cut in half.
Prior art, for the most part, has concerned itself with scissor-like lifting devices which span a carton in order to pick it up. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,952 to Monzain, issued Aug. 29, 1978, a scissor operated tong device was for use in lifting packages. The claws of the device span the carton; thereby requiring a device at least the size of the piece to be lifted. The ends of the claws provide a stable gripping function at the corner of the package. The Monzain device may be operated with only one hand, but the position of the device is such that the carried load typically hangs vertically. Such a vertical positioning of the load is essentially driven by the design of the device, especially when the package to be lifted is of significant weight. No practical provision is made to manipulate the package; only basic lifting and setting of a load is capable with such a device.
Another example of such a scissor-like device is the kind of carrier tool employed to lift car batteries and other heavy objects which are dangerous to touch by hand. Again, the user is limited to simply picking up and putting down whatever load is being carried. Such a device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,217, issued to Viola et al. Jul. 7, 1987. In this case, the device simply clamps two parallel sides of a battery or other load. Limited manipulation is possible with a device having such a handle configuration and contacting a box or carton in such a way. In Viola, and other similar devices, the weight of the carton provides the force to close the clamps. Only firm boxes may be lifted when the load is heavy. What is needed is a better way of picking up and manipulating packages, cartons, bulk material and boxes, providing a capability to manipulate and maneuver a load without damage, even when the load is heavy.
Prior art showing a more manipulative way of picking up objects exists as U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,174, issued Sep. 30, 1980 to Hennessy et al. This device uses a trigger actuated set of jaws to collect refuse. Such a device is not designed, however, for picking up large or heavy items. The long distance between the operator's hand and the piece to be picked up or manipulated is too long, allowing too great a moment of force acting on the hand and wrist, making manipulation of heavy or large objects impractical.
Another consideration in the design of such carrying tools is the effect handling cardboard boxes or other objects have on the hands of the worker. Because the outer surface of a carton is relatively slick, and the properties of paper products is such that continued handling removes the moisture and oil out of a worker's hand, continued handling becomes less safe.
What is needed in order to manipulate cartons and boxes then, is a device which will allow the operator to grab an object in such a way to allow the object to be easily manipulated, without the limitation of just vertically lifting and setting the object. The tool must allow some rotation of the object, without the contacting portions of the device getting in the way of placing or shelving said object as desired.
Further, the manipulation of the object must be accomplished with one hand, allowing the handling of larger and heavier loads, and the device should provide a reliable and steady grip on the piece, with care not to damage the object, or in the case of a carton or box, the container or the goods inside. Such a device would provide a significant improvement for warehouse persons, delivery persons and stock workers. No such device as just described is known to presently exist.